Looking for reverse phone lookup directories can become complicated. You may begin with a quick internet search, assuming it will immediately pop up and you'll have the information you desire with very little effort. Yet what actually comes up is a series of paid websites which vary from less than a buck for one lookup to over fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.
Revising your search to specify free reverse phone lookup brings even more pay services hiding behind claims that they are completely free. They sometimes allow you to enter the number without mention of a fee and award you with very basic information such as the city and state, but in order to see the useful details like a name or address you will once again be asked to hand over a fee.
Absolutely free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data put out great efforts and sometimes money to collect information including unlisted home phone numbers, cell phone numbers, and even address histories. They have no use for this information other than to pass it on to consumers for a nominal charge.
how you proceed from this point depends on how badly you really want to reveal the person registered to that phone number. In the age of identity theft most people won't just pick the first site they find and reveal their private information. Finding the most trustworthy sites is just as crucial as when you buy tennis shoes or pocketbooks over the internet.
Finding the information you want isn't very hard, once you find a proven service.
There are a growing number of competitive directories all offering different fees and offering different combinations of data. When you simply want to know the name behind a strange phone number calling your home or wish to know exactly who your teenager is talking with in the middle of the night, you may not have the time to rate different directories.
The most effective solution may be to go with a brand that many people have grown up with and use the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of legitimacy with a well known household name that has been around for years. You can search a phone number and get the most basic information here without paying, including if the number is a cell phone or landline and a map pinpointing the general location of a home or business. You won't get much more than that, especially if you are searching a cell phone or a home phone number that is unlisted.
Be careful at this point because there will be links from these pages that promise more information, like registered names and desired addresses, for a charge. These links lead to different sites, so you no longer necessarily have the familiarity of the yellow pages website so you need to ensure the legitimacy of these services just as with any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to give you much information beyond a general location; you will need to search elsewhere for more, especially if you want to research a cell phone or unlisted number.
The best way to find reverse phone lookup websites for basic information is to go to a reputable directory with a small one time charge paid with a secure payment system. If you just want a one time lookup then it is probably not worth the money to commit to a long term service. Look for one that offers a single lookup for a low price, usually just a buck or two.
Forking over a huge fee for very limited information or being asked to secure information by delivering personal information by email or other non-secure methods are flashing signals of a scam.